Rhode Island
Housing Secretary Pryor talks homelessness, affordable housing on ’10 News Conference’

Rhode Island Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor talks about the state’s efforts to combat homelessness and address affordable housing.
“10 News Conference” is available as a podcast from Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, CastBox, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and other providers.

Rhode Island
Rhode Island health centers raise alarm over proposed Medicaid cuts – TPR: The Public's Radio

Famous homeowners like Taylor Swift have helped polish the image of Westerly, R.I. But the tony image belies a harsher reality for the year-round folks in this beach town.
More than one in five of the town’s roughly 23,100 residents – close to 5,000 people – are enrolled in Medicaid, the government insurance program for people with low-incomes or disabilities, according to the latest monthly report released by the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
Now, many of those residents who work in the restaurants, hotels, bars and beach clubs which have made Westerly a vacation destination are at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage under a proposed plan by House Republicans, according to local health advocates and U.S. Democratic Rep. Seth Magaziner.
The House Budget Committee voted on Feb. 13 to seek at least $880 billion in mandated spending cuts on programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The committee oversees Medicaid, which is expected to bear the brunt of those cuts.
House Republicans, who have a narrow majority in Congress, are expected to vote on the budget proposal this week.
Magaziner said he plans to “try to convince at least a handful of House Republicans not to gut the health care of millions of people in order to pay for tax cuts for rich people.”
The proposed cuts, Magaziner and local health advocates said, would especially hurt nonprofit federally qualified health centers, the safety net of last resort for the uninsured, the underinsured, and other vulnerable people.
“But it’s not just low-income people,’’ Magaziner said in an interview Monday. “Many people who are solidly middle class qualify for Medicaid, and this would pull the rug out from under them as well.”
On Monday, Magaziner talked about the proposed cuts during a visit to the Wood River Health Services, a nonprofit community health center with offices in Westerly and Hope Valley. About 40% of Wood River Health’s patients are covered by Medicaid, said Alison L. Croke, the center’s president and CEO.
During the last five years, Wood River Health’s patient population has grown by nearly 50 percent, from 6,700 patients in 2019 to more than 10,000 patients last year, according to Croke.
In response to the increased demand for care, Croke said, Wood River Health has expanded its offices in Westerly, built a new facility in Hope Valley and begun offering dental care on Block Island.
And the demand is not just from Medicaid patients. Wood River Health also cares for seniors on Medicare (about 20% of its population) and people with commercial insurance coverage.
“We have folks that are landscapers, people who are bartenders, people who are barbers, hairdressers, (people who) clean houses,” Croke said, as well as “doctors and lawyers and bankers.’’
The center’s finances are already strained, she said. For the first time since she joined Wood River Health six years ago, Croke said, the center is projecting a deficit for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2024.
And the projected deficit, she said, is before any of the proposed federal cuts to Medicaid.
It’s unclear which, if any, of the proposed cuts to Medicaid that Magaziner has outlined will be approved by House Republicans. But among the ideas being circulated, he said, is cutting people from the Medicaid rolls added during the expansion of the Affordable Care Act. Rhode Island was among the first states to expand its Medicaid rolls, in 2014. Many of the newly insured during the expansion were working single adults who did not have employer coverage.
Any significant cuts to Medicaid also are expected to have a ripple effect throughout the health care system, which depends on the funds to reimburse health clinics, nursing homes and hospitals, among others. Health centers, already strained by a national provider shortage and a rise in patients since the pandemic, could be forced to cut staff and services – or shut down altogether.
“The reductions that are being considered…would require the health centers to really dramatically reduce their workforce,’’ said Elena Nicolella, president of the trade group the Rhode Island Health Care Association. And cutting workers, she said, would result in more overworked clinicians leaving, longer wait times for patients to get appointments, and more delays in care resulting in more and sicker patients winding up in hospital emergency rooms.
Related
Rhode Island
RI Lottery Lucky For Life, Numbers Midday winning numbers for Feb. 23, 2025
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Feb. 23, 2025, results for each game:
Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Feb. 23 drawing
01-18-43-44-46, Lucky Ball: 07
Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Numbers numbers from Feb. 23 drawing
Midday: 8-7-1-8
Evening: 5-1-6-0
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Wild Money numbers from Feb. 23 drawing
07-08-09-26-27, Extra: 29
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
- Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
- Winners of the Lucky for Life top prize of $1,000 a day for life and second prize of $25,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.
When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
- Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island basketball routed at Saint Louis. Here’s what happened

Saint Louis led wire-to-wire in Saturday’s Atlantic 10 matchup with visiting Rhode Island, topping the Rams, 81-66 — a contest in which URI was outrebounded on the offensive glass 11-0.
Rhode Island’s Jamarques Lawrence scored a team-best 19 points, including going 5-for-6 from 3-point range, David Green had 16 points and Sebastian Thomas added 8 points and nine assists in the loss. For the host Billikens, Robbie Avila led all scorers with 22 points and Gibson Jimerson had his first career double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds). Saint Louis connected on a season-high 15 3-pointers.
URI would get as close one point (43-42) with 17:03 to play, but Saint Louis extended its lead thanks to a 7-0 run, outscoring the Rams 38-24 the rest of the way.
On the boards, the Billikens outrebounded Rhode Island 42-29, and the lack of the Rams’ offensive rebounds led to a 12-0 Saint Louis advantage in second-chance points. The Billikens’ bench also outscored Rhode Island’s, 21-10.
The Billikens (15-12, 8-6 A-10) are now in a three-way tie (with Dayton and Saint Joseph’s) for fourth place in the A-10 with four games remaining. The top four teams in the final standings receive a double bye in the A-10 Championship. Rhode Island slips to 17-9 overall and 6-8 in Atlantic 10 play, good for a three-way tie for ninth place in the conference.
URI will host Dayton (18-9, 8-6) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
-
Culture1 week ago
The impact of being only player from your country to play in the Premier League
-
Technology1 week ago
YouTube TV has a deal to keep Paramount content
-
Culture1 week ago
Tilted Axis Press Took a Big Risk on Translated Literature. It Paid Off.
-
Politics1 week ago
Some Dems already turning on Hogg two weeks into DNC vice chair gig: report
-
News6 days ago
Kamala Harris Has Scrambled the California Governor’s Race Without Entering It
-
Culture1 week ago
Q&A: Rose Zhang on her TGL investment, the LPGA’s future and slow play
-
Business1 week ago
One Fix for Ailing Movie Theaters? Becoming Nonprofits.
-
Politics1 week ago
Top federal agency exposed for spending billions on migrants in a single year